rom my
lips, according to Simeon (see St. Luke ii. 29), 'Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.'

"I have now some hopes of passing the few remainder of my days
in as much comfort as the separation from the land where I
spent the greatest portion of my life, and from all those which
are most dear to me, can admit. For, from the description given
me of the dear young lady of your choice, I am confident my
dear nephew's future happiness is now established.

"I beg you will give my love to your dear lady, and best
regards to all your new connections where they are due, in the
best terms you can think of, for I am at present too unwell for
writing all I could wish to say.

"I have suffered much during this severe winter, and have not
been able to leave my habitation above three or four times for
the last three months; and feel, moreover, much fatigued by
sitting eight times within the last ten days to Professor
Tiedemann for having my picture taken--which he did at my
apartment, and now he has taken it home to finish. I must
conclude, for I wish to say a few words to your dear mother. It
is now between eleven and twelve, and perhaps you are at this
very moment receiving the blessing of Dr. Jennings; in which I
most fervently join by saying, 'God bless you both!'"

Though eighty-three years old, Miss Herschel retained all her old powers
of memory; and in a letter to her new niece, Lady Herschel, written in
1833, she narrated some amusing reminiscences of her nephew's early
childhood.

He was only in his sixth year, she said, when she was separated for a
while from the family circle. But this did not hinder "John" and her
from remaining the most affectionate friends, and many a half or whole
holiday he spent with her, devoting it to chemical experiments, in which
all kinds of boxes, tops of tea-canisters, pepper-cruets, tea-cups, and
the like, served for the necessary vessels, and the sand-tub furnished
the matter to be analysed. Miss Herschel's task was to prevent the
introduction of water, which would have produced havoc on her carpet.
For his first notion of building, "John" was indebted to the affection
of his aunt, who, on his second or third birthday, lifted him in the
trenches to lay the south corner-stone of the building which was added
to Sir William's original house at Slough. On further r